This virtual challenge allows you to take control on where, when and how you swim your 21 miles. (Respect to all you butterfliers out there!)
When you sign up to Swim It, you'll be able to set up your very own personalised fundraising page where you can log your miles to track your progress, and collect donations from your supporters.
You can also join our Swim It Facebook group to get support and meet the 2023 team!
Whilst you'll be going the distance, we'll be here to support you through your challenge. Check out our FAQ's below or get in touch with us.
To thank you for your hard work, we have some exclusive merch up for grabs so you can really look the part and Swim It in style.
Raise £10 for your Macmillan swimming cap.
Raise £200 for your Swim It medal and badge.
Raise £500 for your Macmillan swimming towel and water bottle.
Here are some popular questions we get asked. If you can’t find an answer to your question here, feel free to contact us at swimming@macmillan.org.uk or on 0300 1000 200.
A virtual swimming challenge where we are asking you to swim 21 miles over 2 months (June and July) at your own pace and at a location of your choice. We will support you every step of the journey and will offer tips to raise vital funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.
You can register your interest here.
If you experiences any difficulties signing up, please email swimming@macmillan.org.uk or call 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm) for assistance.
No, it is completely free to sign up to Swim It!
We encourage every participant to aim to raise £200 to earn their medal and swimming badge. Any money you raise will provide vital funds to support people living with cancer.
Start swimming in your chosen location on June 1st and make sure to get to that 21 miles and reach your fundraising target by the end of July!
Lengths equivalent to a standard 25m pool (rounded up to a full length).
Number of lengths per week for different number of swims based on completing the challenge in 8 weeks.
Yes. You can complete the swim wherever works for you, and you can mix it up.
The beauty of this event is that you’ll get stronger as you go, but there’s no need for extra training. You’ll be doing it at your own pace, in your own time, and over the course of two months. If you do want any extra training tips, click here to see our swimming training guides.
If you have any concerns about your health or fitness please speak to your doctor first.
Once you've raised your first £10, you'll receive your swimming cap (please note this can take up to 2 weeks to arrive in the post). You can always self-donate £10 once you've set up your fundraiser to cover the swimming cap and show your supporters you’re committed to the challenge!
If you haven't yet received this after 2 weeks, please email your address to swimming@macmillan.org.uk with the subject: 'Swimming Hat Required' and we will get this to you as soon as possible.
Everyone taking part needs to sign up individually. However, it is fine to do the swim, log laps and fundraise together on one page as a team. If your team and planning on sharing a page let us know by emailing swimming@macmillan.org.uk.
Yes, absolutely! The beauty of Swim It is that you can do your swim in any location. Your JustGiving page allows you to accept donations from friends and family all over the world.
Swim It welcomes all ages and abilities.* It doesn’t matter if you can swim one length or two hundred.
*Under 18s are welcome to take part but they’ll need an adult to register on their behalf as we can only communicate with an adult.
Join our Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/swimit. This is a great place to meet fellow swimmers and share your top Swim It tips.
You can set your own target, we suggest £200.
Everyone who raises £10 will receive a swimming cap. If you raise £200 you will be posted a Macmillan medal and swimming badge. Raise £500 and you will be posted a Macmillan towel and water bottle.
We value all our fundraisers and as a gesture of our thanks, we have created a Fundraising Rewards Programme, full of exclusive swimming goodies you can earn when hitting the following fundraising targets:
If you would prefer to opt out of receiving our rewards programme, please email swimming@macmillan.org.uk.
Your fundraising page is a secure, quick and easy way to get donations and a great way to track your progress.
But if you would rather fundraise in a more traditional way, such as sponsorship forms, that’s also fine. You will receive sponsorship forms in your fundraising pack and you can download more from our resource page.
The best way to pay in your cash donations is to pay them into your bank account and then make a payment from your debit/credit card to your own JustGiving page.
By Post
Send a cheque with your name and event, made payable to ‘Macmillan Cancer Support’, to:
Macmillan Cancer Support
PO Box 791, York, YO1 0NJ
BACS Transfer
Send an email to fundraising@macmillan.org.uk for our bank details and your unique paying in code.
By Phone
Call us on 0300 1000 200 (Monday-Friday, 9am – 5pm) and we can take payment over the phone.
You can manually add any offline funds raised by following these simple instructions:
By setting up your Swim It JustGiving page you'll be able to invite friends and family to sponsor you by sending them a link to that page.
We'll also send you a fundraising pack to help you get started, send regular emails with top tips and have tons of advice and resources for our dedicated fundraisers on our website.
Gift Aid is a great opportunity for donors to make their voluntary donations to Macmillan worth 25% more – without spending an extra penny. It enables charities like us to claim the basic tax that donors have paid on their donations back from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
If every supporter agreed to Gift Aid it would raise hundreds of thousands of pounds more to support people affected by cancer.
To be eligible to add Gift Aid to your donation you must be a UK taxpayer and you must have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for the current tax year, that is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) that you donate to will reclaim on my gifts for the current tax year. Other taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. The charity will reclaim 25p of tax on every £1 that you have given.
If you change your mind about hearing from us, you can stop receiving our updates at any time by emailing fundraising@macmillan.org.uk or calling 0300 1000 200. Please see our privacy statement for more information.
JustGiving's (JG) top priority is to ensure that transaction and supporter data is kept secure at all times.
That’s why JustGiving maintains the highest possible standards of data security. It’s why we’ve implemented key international standards of best practice in online and data security, including:
We take an active role in the overall reduction of identity theft and fraud on the internet by ensuring the security of our IT systems, personnel and infrastructure.
Our employees are trained in all aspects of web application security, including infrastructure vulnerabilities, cross-site scripting, secure data storage, and using the software development lifecycle to maintain and improve security.
JG has been certified PCI compliant by Trustwave, an official Visa Qualified Security Assessor. This means our systems and services comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and that we actively protect our customers' identities, personal information and financial details.
This is where you can keep a track of how far you’ve swum and your fundraising, all in one place. You can personalise it by adding your photo, your story and regular updates.
It's where you'll start earning virtual badges for both your swimming and your fundraising. It’s easy to share your profile page with friends and family, so you can show off how you're getting on and they can support you by making a donation.
When setting up your Just Giving page you will have chosen a password - don’t worry if you've forgotten it!
You can check your emails from Just Giving to retrieve your login details, or head to the Just Giving Help & Support page for help logging into your account.
It’s so motivating to see how far you’ve gone. Not just for you, your supporters can also follow your progress and cheer you on. That’s why we’ve made it extra easy to track your distance through your fundraising page by manually adding your lengths.
Follow these simple instructions: